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Friday, January 11, 2013

Ethiopia Football Team Feels Pressured to Succeed

(Jan 11, 2013, Addis Ababa)--Ethiopia’s football (soccer) team hopes to excel when it makes its first
appearance in 31 years at the Africa Cup of Nations. The young players
hope to relive Ethiopia's past glories at the tournament that begins
next week in South Africa.

Ethiopian National Football Team (ethiosports)

Ethiopia participated in the very first Africa Cup of Nations, in 1957, and won the trophy in 1962. But that was a long time ago, and national team coach Sewnet Bishaw said
his young team is under a lot of pressure, as this is a new experience
for all the players.

“Most of them were not there when Ethiopia was qualifying for Africa Cup
of Nations the last 31 years back. We have psychology class every two
days, we teach them. And to erase this pressure we have arranged games
to practice,” said Bishaw. Adane Girma is one of the top players in the Ethiopian football league. He said the psychology classes are very useful.

He said that he thinks the team is feeling
less pressured because the psychology and nutrition class is helping
them a lot. Adane said they are being taught a lot of things that are
helping them concentrate on every game, keep themselves well and have
confidence in their abilities.

During team practices in the capital’s stadium, the stands are filled.
Football fan Alazar, a young salesman who has high expectations for the
national team, said he believes the national team will bring back the
trophy as he witnessed good quality football when they were playing
friendly matches. The team, nicknamed the Walya Antelopes, for an antelope found only in
Ethiopia, qualified for the African Cup of Nations after beating Sudan,
2-0, in October. The last time Ethiopia participated was in 1982.

The long-awaited appearance of the national
team in the tournament comes after many changes within the Ethiopian
football league. President of the Ethiopian Football Federation Sahilu
Gebremariam said there were many problems to be fixed. “We used to interfere in all operational matters. Now we have a clear
cut role and responsibilities," Gebremariam said. "All the technical
matters, we left it to the professionals, we don’t interfere. The last
three years we have been doing vigorously and a lot so based on that you
can see the cumulative effect now.”

The
success of the Walyas has also generated much needed funds. The
Ethiopian government granted almost half a million dollars, many local
businessmen have donated sizeable amounts and international beer brewer
Heineken just signed a $1.3 million contract with the team. One week before the start of the Africa Cup of Nations, coach Bishaw
keeps training light so the players will be in perfect shape for their
first match - against defending champion Zambia.

Saladin Said is the only national team player who plays professionally
in another country. The Egyptian Premier League forward says he feels
the Walyas are ready to compete. Ethiopia will play their match against Zambia on January 21. They will also face Nigeria and Burkina Faso in the first round. Source: Voice of America